Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1437138
motorhomes and off-roaders of all kinds. And it seemed like more motorcyclists were pounding out the mileage on the pave- ment, too. Without question, the pandemic re-introduced many of us to motorcycles and the great outdoors again, which are indeed awesome things. Because of this, there was some sense of normalcy in 2021, which, to me, was inspir- ing. However, it didn't really start off that way when Supercross kicked off in Houston (three times!) instead of its traditional location of Anaheim, California, and it didn't get any better when all West Coast races were even- tually dropped from the sched- ule. It sure seemed strange not having a single Supercross race at the "Big A" this year. The clos- est it got to Anaheim was Salt Lake City—of course, that is only if you don't count the Troy Lee/ Red Bull/GasGas stunt that had Justin Barcia winning again at Anaheim for the series opener. Pretty amazing that Barcia did go on to win the Supercross opener at Houston. Still, for the most part, things started feeling somewhat normal again in 2021 when it came to motorcycles and motorcycle racing as the year progressed. Speaking of Supercross, it was the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Championship that manufactured our 2021 Cycle News Rider of the Year. After some deliberation, the Cycle News staff ultimately voted on Red Bull KTM's Cooper Webb as this year's CN R.O.Y. winner. It wasn't exactly easy, how- ever. Webb had a lot of competi- tion this year, like premier-class rookie Dylan Ferrandis, who flew under almost everyone's radar when it came to predicting this year's 450MX AMA National Motocross Champion. Most of us were certain it was going to be Eli Tomac for the fifth time, or former champ Ken Roczen. However, Ferrandis proved us wrong. He came out swinging at Pala 1 and never let up until he locked up the title at Pala 2. We talked about Jake Gagne who stepped up his game big- time in 2021 and dominated the MotoAmerica Superbike Cham- pionship. And we considered Jared Mees who came from behind to win the L ast year at this time, I signed off my Observa- tion Check column saying, "Here's to an awesome 2021!" This was said, of course, after enduring one of the most cha- otic, scariest and bizarre years this globe has ever seen. (I don't need to explain why, do I?) Well, 12 months later, I do, indeed, think it was an awesome year. Things are still far from ideal yet or fully back to the way they were, for that matter, but I do feel 2021 was a pretty darn good year, at least when it comes to our little slice of the world—motorcycles. The motorcycle industry contin- ued to flourish and motorcycle racing continued to be outstand- ing. This year, crowds, once again, filled racing venues, and OHV parks were also packed to the brim every weekend with P176 CN III OBSERVATION CHECK BY KIT PALMER THAT'S MORE LIKE IT